Lawn-mower.



vlfrafvoqs. n -PATBNTED MAY 24,1904;

H. v v. LBAVITT.

LAWN MOWER.

APrLIoATIoN FILED JAN. 1o, 190s.

No MODEL. n v '2 sums-SHEET 1.

7H: Norms Pneus 00., moruwo.. WASHINGTON. n. e.

PATENTBD MAY 24, 1904.,l H. W..LEAVITT.

LAWN MOWER. -PPL'OTION FILED JAN. 10. 1903.

yN0 MODEL.

ivo. '760,695'.

resented 1112.37.24, 1904;

ICE"

IIARYWLEAVITI', or, TUSCOLA, ILLINOIS.;

L'AwNfMowER.

SPECIFICATION formiiigvpart ofLt'rs meent No, veevoer', aated'lviaym, v19.04.4

ippueaamriai-imm 10,1903.

`To all whom) 1S-may concern: 'A' Beitknown that I, HARRY LAVITT, a citii zen ofthe United States, residing at Tuscola, in the county y'oi Douglas and State of Illinois," have invented `certain new and useful 'Improvements in Lawn-Mowers; and. I do herebyvde Clare the'following' to bea full, clear, and eX- act description of vthe invention, such asv'vvill enable others skilledin the art to which it ap? pertains to makegand use the same.` s -v My invention has relatio'n'to mowing=ma chines, and more particularly'to lawn-mowers vdesigned to be'operated by handlpowenthough it is obvious that 'other forms of motive force may be adopted in some v'instances With'advantage. v y j f The object of my' invention, among' 'othersgf is to provide an attachment for a lawnm'ower of the usual or anypreferred con'structionwhereby the "momentum'o the machine when in operation will be greatly conserved and; augmented at the expense fof `ajminimum amount of mechanism. f

A further object, among oth'ers,"is' to pro# vide a simple clutch'- mechanism WhichWill prove reliably eflcient' inthe performance of' and Willbe permittedfto remainidl'e Whenfthe" movementv of the machine proper'is reversed,

Other objects and advantages vvill be herei i l inafter clearly'set forth, reference' beinghad" to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this application, andlin Which;- L

- Figure -lshows' 'a perspective 'viewfo my invention complete readyl for use. Figizf2' shows va rear elevation of'my invention illustrated in Fig.' 1 with the handlepr'emoved;

' Fig. '3 "is a sectional view of my machina'taken Online m' offFig. 2 andshovving the partson' as lightly-enlarged scale. 4" is a detailz vievs'T of myimproved clutch mechanism andv contiguous parts'on a 'substantially normal sc'alewhile' Fig. sh'o'vvsjthe c'llitehmec'hanly ism and shaft illustrated in Fig. ft separatedV from each other and ready-tobe assembled each in its; respectiveplace. *Fig 6' is a plan view showing some of theelements in section. Fig. 7 is a side View of the standard llfremoved looking in the direction of the collar 6.

`or handle thereof, v v'lhi'ch is constructed sub s stantially in the usual manner. and provided with a bifurcated lovver'end,the branches 3 of' lwhich are adapted to ltalr'e'jover suitablelugs" providedon a contiguous partof theframe.

An axle iis providedand `which is loosely mounted in #journals 45', 'which aref .extended ,through theseats or collarsand 6, said jour- ,n'als being heldagainst rotation therein by` theset-screvvs. Theextensions 5 are eccenl trically'disposedupon the shaft 4; thereby.v .-permitting a` proper adjustment 'oi the shaft- ;4 by means V'of' said set-scrzevv, whereby certain,`

partsc'arried 'by the' shaft'may be relatively'l dispsedl'" The inner end ofthe shaft 4 and .'SCOUM are S'pported bythe standardli, lsoon'to bedescribed. l

on`,'6; constitutes'fanintegral'part'of'the sta` arn112, inthe free end of yvhiciz'h is provided 'ga suitable bearing forthe vertical 'shaft 13,1; ythe'lovv'er lendL of said vshaft beinigf'seated Asuitablebearingsin the bar 9: s l

Ihe lovver end of A theshaft 13 extends; enl ytirely through a suitable aperture provid n, the bar 9 and' isgprovided upon agende??? ,side With `the' head Aordisk` :14, hai'girig'Aafvvrist pin 15, designedto connect Withjthepitnian'f 16, theouter end oi which is'operatively con n'ected to the d .iving `barf17,'pivoted up "the bracket'18,'caried bythe orwrdlypfmg `cated bythe numeral -ai'y head-,that sjleen atithe right ,in Figs. V there beingrone'of saidheads'f'for'eachoi ith traction`-\vheels,` said heads being secured' bolted in engage-f ated.' by the boitsf` 10. It is obvious'thatf'said cross-bar 9 affords a bearingor support jupon which is er'veeted: loWninFigj n l l i Iwilrbekfobserveethatthe @there-onwaar its office, whereby the'sickl'e'v'vill'bepositivelyl A driven when the'mac'hine'is moved forward;

The arm 19 is supplemented by the arm or frame section 21, said parts being adjustably supported by the auxiliary carrying-wheels 22 and are designed to carry the sickle 23 and the bar cooperating therewith. The disk or head 14 and the shaft 13 are driven by means of a train of gearing consisting in this instance of a master or driving gear 24, secured to the shaft 25, which latter is supported in'suitable bearings 26,0peratively disposed in the collars or seats 27 and held against rotation in said seats by the set-screws 28.

rIhe shaft 25 is eccentrically disposed with respect to the bearings 26, whereby a proper adjustment of said bearing may be secured by the set-screw 28, which latter is carried by the extension or seat 27, as clearly shown in Fig. 4; The extension or seat 27 also provides ay housing for the clutch mechanism employed to coperate with the shaft 25 and comprising the member 29, which is provided upon its inner face with a pair of oppositelyinclined recesses 30, designed to engage a pin 31, whereby the member 29 is held against reverse rotation upon its shaft. The opposite face or outer side of the member 29 is provided with inwardly-directed tapering recesses which terminate in the shoulders 32,

and designed to coperate with said shoulders.

are the extensions 33, formed upon the inner face of the gear 34, which latter is rotatably disposed upon the shaft 25 and held thereon by the key 35 or the equivalent thereof. f

The gear 34 is designed to engage with and be .driven by a plurality of inwardly-directed cogs 36, carried by the traction-wheels 1, asv is common. By means of the clutch mechanism just described it is obvious that when the lawn-mower is driven forward the shaft 23 will be positively rotated to operate the driving-gear 24; but when the machine is moved backward the inclined facesv of the teeth 33 will ride upon the inclined faces of the recesses which terminate in the shoulders 32, and the result will be that the member 29 will be forced inward against the pins 31 suficiently to permit the teeth 33 to pass said member. When, however, the machine is again driven-forward, the teeth 33 will engage the shoulders on the recesses 30 and cause the beveled faces upon the opposite side of said member to ride against the pins 31, thereby insuringthat said member 29 will be moved outward by reason of said pins, and thereby frictionally lock the gear 34 and the shaft 25 in union with each other.

I am thus enabled to entirely dispense with spring mechanism for holding the detent or clutch mechanism in engagement with each other, inasmuch as a wedge-like action is set up between the member 29 and the gear 34, owing to the'construction of said parts and by reason of the location of the pin 31. The driving-gear 24 meshes with a spur Wheel or gear 24, forming an integral part of the beveled gear 37, which latter is rigidly keyed to its supporting-shaft 4 and is designed to mesh with and drive the vbeveled gear 38, which latter is rigidly keyed to the shaft 13.

I desire to call special attention to the balance-wheel 39, rigidly secured to the upper end of the shaft 13, as it is by means of said wheel that I am enabled to preserve the force or momentum of the machine to a suiiicient extent to insure that the sickle will be positively driven forward at least momentarily even after the machine itself has come to a full stop, thereby guarding against the sickle becoming choked. By means of the mechanism herein described and illustrated it will be seen that the simple train of gearing which I have provided for communicating motion to the sickle may be actuated at the expense of a minimum amount of power and that the machine may be readily reversed and moved rear- Ward without fear of stopping and choking the sickle, inasmuch as the momentum of the train of gears will be preserved and maintained to the extent of clearing the sickle of choking material.

The simple form of clutch mechanism will admit of the machine being moved backward without danger of breaking any of the parts or disengaging the spring tension usually employed to control the clutch.

It will be understood that my improved mower may be any preferred size and made of any material deemed most suitable for the purpose and that the several parts thereof being interchangeable may be very cheaply manufactured and readily assembled each in its respective operative position.

While I have described the preferred construction and combination of parts deemed necessary in materializing my ideas and applying my invention to practical use', I wish to comprehend in this application all possible substitutes and equivalents which maybe considered as fairly falling within the scope of my invention.

Believing that the advantages and manner of using my improved lawn-mower have thus been made clearly apparent, further description is deemed unnecessary.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-a 1. In a lawn-mower of the class described, the combination of a frame, carrying-wheels therefor, two parallel shafts having eccentric journals, collar-sections through which said journals are extended, a connection between the carrying-wheel and one of said shafts, stationary heads integral with said collar-sections, means connecting said heads together,

a standard supported on said connecting means, an inwardly-directed arm on said standard, a vertical shaft, the free end of which has a bearing in said arm and the lower end having a bearing in said connecting means, a disk with wrist-pin connected with the lower IOS IIO

end of said vertical shaft, a pitman connected with the said wrist-pin, an operative connection between the pitman and the sickle-har, and an operative connection betweensaid vertical shaft and one of the first-mentioned parallel shafts.

2. In a lawn-mower of the class described, the combination of a frame, carrying-wheelsY therefor, two parallel shafts having eccentric journals, a connection'between one of said shafts and the carrying-wheels, collar-sections through which said journals are extended, means including said eccentric journals and collar-sections for adjusting said shafts, stationary heads integral with said collar-sections, means connecting said heads together,

a standard supported on said connecting' means, an inwardly-directed arm on said standard, a vertical shaft, the free end of which has a hearing in said arm and the lower end having a hearing in said connecting means, a

disk with wrist-pin'connected with the lower '4 end of said'vertical shaft, a pitman-connected with the said wrist-pin, an operative connection between the pitman and the sickle-bar, a train ofgearing, connecting the said vertical shaft and one of the saidparallel shafts.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in A Witnesses:

W. M. Woon, W. P. JORDAN. 

